DCS Talks

DCS Talks

By DCSTalksGovernment
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DCS Talks episodes

  • DCS Talks about Foster Fathers - Anthony Johnson (Part 2)

    This is part 2 of Toney Horton's interview with Mr. Anthony Johnson, a current foster and adoptive parent. If you have not listened to part 1, yet, I highly encourage you to listen to the previous episode first, for context. Join us today as we discuss what it means to be a foster father, as Mr. Johnson shares his experiences and Mr. Horton challenges this foster father with real-world scenarios. 

    28 min
  • DCS Talks about Termination of Parental Rights with Susan Kovac

    In this episode of

    DCS Talks, we have Susan Kovac with us to discuss Termination of Parental
    Rights.  Ms. Kovac has serves as General
    Counsel Emerita at Department of Children’s Services where she served as the
    lead attorney for the Knox County Region as well as serving as an Associate
    Professor at the UT Knoxville School of Law for over 13 years. We have asked
    Ms. Kovac to join us today to discuss Termination of Parental Rights through
    the perspective of the child welfare legal system.

    25 min
  • DCS Talks about Mindfulness with Steve Vann

    In this episode of

    DCS Talks, we have Steve Vann with us to discuss mindfulness in child welfare. Mr.
    Vann is a professional counselor who serves as an Assessment Consultant with
    the Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody at the Vanderbilt
    University Medical Center. Beyond serving our agency through assessment
    consultation Mr. Vann is also a regular practitioner of mindfulness and with all
    his experiences, he is sensitized to the stress experienced in the child
    welfare community whether you are a case manager, foster parent or community
    partner there are  a lot of stressors in
    child welfare! I have asked Steve to join us today to discuss different ways to
    experience mindfulness and why these practices are so important in child
    welfare.

    36 min
  • DCS Talks about Assessing for the Commercial Exploitation of Minors

    In this episode of DCS Talks, we have Shelby Johnson with us to discuss assessing
    for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors . Ms. Johnson is a Licensed
    Clinical Social Worker who serves as an Assessment Consultant with the Center
    of Excellence for Children in State Custody at the Vanderbilt University
    Medical Center. Beyond serving our agency through assessment consultation Ms.
    Johnson also served as a case manager and team leader at DCS and has worked in
    the education system as a social worker. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
    Children or CSEM refers to a range of criminal activities such as sex
    trafficking, pornography, early marriage, essentially it is sexual abuse of a
    minor for financial benefit including an exchange of anything of value.

    22 min
  • DCS Talks Foster Youth Turned Teen Advocate

    In this episode of DCS Talks, foster parent trainer Toney Horton sits down with former foster youth, and co-founder of Jonathan's Path, Taylor Hart DuRard, to discuss the child welfare system through the eyes of the youth. 

    This episode mentions our interview with Taylor's mom, Carrie DuRard, which can be found in our DCS Talks archive, Episode 51, "DCS Talks: Teen Placement and Advocacy" here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dcstalks/episodes/DCS-Talks-about-Teen-Placement-and-Advocacy-e1v3c6e

    19 min
  • DCS Talks about the Indian Child Welfare Act with Susan Kovac

    In this episode of DCS Talks, we have Susan Kovac with us to discuss the
    Indian Child Welfare Act. Ms. Kovac has serves as General Counsel Emeritus at Department
    of Children’s Services where she served as the lead attorney for the Knox
    County Region as well as serving as an Associate Professor at the UT Knoxville
    School of Law for over 13 years. Ms. Kovac has many special interests around
    law and child welfare one of which is about the Indian Child Welfare Act or
    ICWA. ICWA provides
    guidance to States regarding the handling of child abuse and neglect and
    adoption cases involving Native children and sets minimum standards for the handling
    of these cases. This is November 2023 which is National Native or
    Indigenous American Heritage month

    23 min

About DCS Talks

From the publisher's feed

DCS Talks, is a podcast production of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. The intention of DCS Talks is to promote dialogue among child welfare professionals, foster parents and the…